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FDA stirring up plans to cut salt intake

Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press
7:36 p.m. CDT June 30, 2014

Agency prepping guidelines for food industry to reduce sodium

Food companies and restaurants could soon face government pressure to make their foods less salty — a <137,2014/06/30,Bailey/c Phyllis1>long-awaited<137> federal effort to <137,2014/06/30,Bailey/c Phyllis1>try and<137> prevent thousands of deaths each year from heart disease and stroke.(Photo: AP)

WASHINGTON – Food companies and restaurants could soon face government pressure to make their foods less salty — a long-awaited federal effort to try to prevent thousands of deaths each year from heart disease and stroke.

The Food and Drug Administration is preparing voluntary guidelines asking the food industry to lower sodium levels, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg told The Associated Press. Hamburg said recently that sodium is "of huge interest and concern" to the agency.

"We believe we can make a big impact working with the industry to bring sodium levels down, because the current level of consumption really is higher than it should be for health," Hamburg said.

It's still unclear when FDA will release the guidelines, despite its 2013 goal to have them completed this year.

Hamburg said she hoped the agency would be able to publicly discuss the issue "relatively soon." There is no set time line for release.

The food industry has already made some reductions, and has prepared for government action since a 2010 Institute of Medicine report said companies had not made enough progress on making foods less salty. The IOM advised the government to establish maximum sodium levels for different foods, though the FDA said then — and maintains now — that it favors a voluntary route.

Americans eat about 1½ teaspoons of salt daily, about a third more than the government recommends for good health and enough to increase the risk of high blood pressure, strokes and other problems. Most of that sodium is hidden inside common processed foods and restaurant meals.

In addition to flavor, companies use sodium to increase shelf life, prevent growth of bacteria, or improve texture and appearance. That makes it more difficult to remove from some products, Hamburg noted.

The idea is gradual change will consumers' taste buds time can adjust and companies time to develop lower-sodium foods.

"I think one of the things we are very mindful of is that we need to have a realistic time line," Hamburg said.

THE SALTIEST FOODS

The Food and Drug Administration is preparing voluntary guidelines that will encourage the food industry to make their foods less salty in an effort to reduce heart attacks and strokes. Most of that sodium isn't from the salt shaker, but is hidden inside common processed foods and restaurant meals. Some of the saltiest foods , based on 2010 data from the Agriculture Department:

• Burgers and sandwiches, which provide 21 percent of Americans' total sodium intake.